Earnings Preview: Hartford Financial Services

Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG) is expected to report Q3 earnings after today's bell, with a conference call scheduled for Thursday, October 30 at 9:00 am.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for EPS of ($1.54) on revenue of $8.88B. The consensus range for EPS is ($2.25) to ($1.03), according to First Call.

Analyst Views

Only one analyst has provided a revenue estimate. Hartford recently received a $2.5B investment from German insurance company Allianz (AZ), which announced yesterday that it had a 9.9% stake in Hartford. Citigroup views the investment by Allianz as a positive for Hartford, since the firm believes the deal addresses the capital adequacy concerns that had been surrounding Hartford. Moreover, the firm thinks the investment may pave the way for an acquisition of Hartford.

However, investors may have some reasons to be worried about  results since a number of major insurance companies have already reported disappointing Q3 results. Progressive (PGR), Travelers (TRV), and Allstate (ALL) have announced Q3 earnings that fell well below consensus estimates. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal recently reported that the U.S. Treasury was considering buying stakes in major insurance companies, but Barclays and Citigroup both expressed skepticism that the government would take this step.